New research from Parks Associates shows that 51% of connected TV (CTV) device owners in the United States, roughly 44 million households, engage in commerce-related activities on their TV today. The most common are video-related digital purchases that leverage stored payment credentials or direct consumers to a mobile link to complete the purchase.
Parks Associates’ just-published study of 10.000 internet households, “T-Commerce: Buying Through the TV,” explores the potential of T-Commerce, or buying goods and services through the television, to generate additional revenues for video service providers. The study also assesses consumer openness to T-Commerce offerings, including the types of products and services most likely to generate sales. Furthermore, it explores preferred T-Commerce providers, user interfaces, and payment methods and identifies top barriers to T-Commerce activity.
The research study finds consumer use of ecommerce is growing across all platforms, with mobile purchasing in the lead. The vast majority of consumers shop online, with 88% of consumers in US internet households shopping online at least once per month via a computer or mobile phone. Households that are heavy online shoppers today – households with children and those with higher income levels – are also the consumers who show most interest in T-Commerce.
At the same time, the study revealed that nearly one in four households now watch streaming TV (online pay TV), that older consumers express more interest in T-Commerce features enabled by retailers and credit card companies, and that households with children are far more likely to use the T-Commerce features tested in the survey.
“Digital purchases on TVs are common today and the foundation for future T-Commerce experiences. This new research helps to quantify and understand consumer buying habits, purchase intentions, payment preferences, and inhibitors,” commented Jennifer Kent, VP of Research at Parks Associates.